Writing & Radio

Jane has written on a broad range of topics relating to cities, politics, art and photography and LGBTQ history in magazines, newspapers and anthologies. She’s intrigued by stories of how spaces become places, and how people connect to each other and their built environment in cities and neighbourhoods. Her love of history, biography, lexicography and politics were given free range in two editions of the Book of Lists. Wanted Words Volume 1 & 2 were a best-selling spin-off of the popular word game she devised while working as a CBC radio producer.

Host of CBC Radio One’s ‘Workology’, a series about the modern workplace, 2001 – 2003
Host of CBC Radio One’s ‘Home’, a series about the social construction of domesticity, 2003
Host of CBC Radio One’s ‘The Omnivore’, a series on eating and drinking, 2005
Host of CBC Radio One’s ‘And Sometimes Y’, 2008 – 2009
Producer of CBC Radio One’s The Sunday Edition, This Morning, Sounds like Canada 1999 – 2007

By Ira Basen and Jane Farrow Before there was Buzzfeed, there was the Book Of Lists, the original bestselling compendium of curious information. Basen & Farrow team up again on this revised and even more Canadian follow up to their 2005 best-seller. Included are updates to the classics and new, creative lists from a wide…

Shortlisted for 2017 Toronto Book Award Toronto is home to multiple and thriving queer communities that reflect the dynamism of a global city. Any Other Way is an eclectic and richly illustrated local history that reveals how these individuals and community networks have transformed Toronto from a place of churches and conservative mores into a…

Workology Three seasons of this limited series was produced between 2001 – 2003 focussing on how we negotiate our place and purpose as ‘cogs in the modern workplace machine’. It was co-created with veteran CBC producer Ira Basen, wily field reporter Nick Purdon and our in-house Clockwatcher, Lisa Ayuso. Creator and editor of Wanted Words,…

In October 2016 Jane reviewed Noah Richler’s book, The Candidate: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, a candid recounting of his 2015 federal run for the NDP. Reflecting on her own experience as a municipal candidate, she explores the ups, downs and madness inherent in running for office. Most books about elections are written…

What do you call the a weekly radio segment that enlists the help of Canadians to fill critical gaps in the English language? Wanted Words of course. Jane devised and delivered this popular segment heard on CBC Radio One’s current affairs flagship, This Morning, from 1999 – 2001 and subsequently edited the two best-selling collections…